A great deal of information can now be made available to an operator of a vehicle regarding the position, speed, and altitude of the vehicle, as well as a host of operating parameters, such as various vehicle diagnostic signals including wireless signal from tire pressure sensors and the like. It is often desirable that such information be made available for display.
As recognized by the present invention, positional information may be received using a global positioning satellite (GPS) system, whereas vehicle diagnostic information and other information may be received using a wireless link. The present invention further recognizes that one wireless link that may be effectively used, owing to its broad interoperability with a large number of computing devices, is the personal area network (PAN) radiofrequency (RF) link known Bluetooth. As still further recognized herein, particularly in the case of vehicles, where space and weight are at a premium for fuel conservation and where even a few cents of additional cost can take on critical importance, advanced systems preferably should be as compact as possible and use as few components as possible. To date, a combined GPS/Bluetooth information system for a vehicle has not been provided. With the above critical observations in mind, the invention disclosed herein is provided.